LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a Texas businessman will not get more time to gather signatures to try to get his casino legalization measure on the November ballot.

Justices on Thursday denied a petition from Michael Wasserman, who wanted more time to gather signatures to qualify for the ballot. The proposed constitutional amendment would give Wasserman the exclusive rights to operate casinos in seven Arkansas counties.

Wasserman argued that Secretary of State Mark Martin’s office improperly rejected his petitions when it said he didn’t meet a requirement that signatures from at least 15 counties equal at least 5 percent of the votes cast in the most recent governor’s election. He fell short in Prairie, Saline and Woodruff counties.

Proposed amendments need signatures from at least 78,133 registered voters to qualify for the ballot. Wasserman has argued that he only needed to clear an initial count of the numbers, not in the 15 counties, to qualify for more time.

Deputy Secretary of State A.J. Kelly told the court earlier this month that after denying the petitions, elections officials determined that the vast majority of signatures submitted by Wasserman were not valid. Elections officials said that only 11,065 signatures submitted were valid. Kelly said Wasserman has already missed the 30-day window to challenge that finding and submit more petitions.

The high court sided with the state in its opinion released Thursday.

“We hold that in order to qualify for additional time, the petition must first on its face contain a sufficient number of signatures pursuant to both the statewide and 15-county requirement before the 30-day provision to correct deficiencies applies,” the court said.

An attorney for Wasserman told justices during oral arguments that the state had overstepped its bounds and created new obstacles for ballot measures by rejecting the petitions based on the 15-county standard.

The state and opponents of the measure have argued that Wasserman doesn’t have standing to sue since he’s not an Arkansas voter. They also argue that the 15-county standard is not a new one and has been applied in the past.

Wasserman’s lawsuit was one of three before the court over casino legalization measures. Justices are considering two separate lawsuits over a competing amendment by professional poker player Nancy Todd, who’s seeking the right to operate casinos in four counties.

Todd has sued the state for rejecting the wording of her amendment, while a campaign funded by a Hot Springs horse track that offers video poker and blackjack has filed a separate lawsuit opposing her amendment.